


Sucker For A Beautiful Girl With Alluring Eyes

by ShellyNelsonLahey



Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Jeronica, Jeronica Week 2020, Masquerade, NewYearJeronicaWeek20, Vughead, jeronica week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:01:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22407655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShellyNelsonLahey/pseuds/ShellyNelsonLahey
Summary: Veronica and Jughead meet up again ten years after they split paths to pursue their lives, unaware just how close they really are to one another. With Cheryl and Toni Topaz’s masquerade ball coming up, they help one another get ready for it, and the feelings left behind in Riverdale come rushing back as they search for one another at the ball.
Relationships: Jughead Jones & Veronica Lodge, Jughead Jones/Veronica Lodge, jughead jones x veronica lodge
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Sucker For A Beautiful Girl With Alluring Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The Jeronica Nation](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+Jeronica+Nation).



> This is the first day of New Years Jeronica Week, Masquerade! Thank the Jeronica Nation for keeping me writing even if I may not be in the mood lol

Jughead Jones was never really a party guy, he hated pretending to be extroverted and good with people, but if he was able to dress up in a penguin suit and hide his identity behind a mask, he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. He had always felt like an outsider, even in his own body. Cheryl Blossom-Topaz was holding a masquerade party with her wife, Toni, and Jughead had to sell his last suit months ago for an emergency. Thus, he needed another one and knew just the person to ask for help.

A “Lodge Fashion” sign blinked above the classy, double french doors to Veronica Lodge's store, which held all of her varying designs. It had been ten years since high school, and she was thriving in New York. Her first chain store opened up in Riverdale, only adding to her list of properties that she owned. Jughead moved to New York coincidentally a couple of months after her, taking up photography for a range of different clients. He’d meant to get back in touch, but his fear that their friendship was solely based on them being in the same circle kept him from actually going through with anything. This was Veronica Lodge, the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. The girl who could be the biggest, baddest bitch but also the sweetest and most caring woman to ever care if she wanted to. She was the girl he let get away in high school. How could he just go up to her after ten years and strike up a conversation as if there wasn’t an awkwardly large time gap?

But this was the perfect way to reconnect: asking for help with finding a suit, and to see if she could point him in the direction of any masquerade masks. Cheryl and Toni Blossom-Topaz had to go all out, always, and made sure to invite everyone they knew. Jughead wasn’t sure if Veronica was going to the ball, but he knew that she had to have been invited because Veronica used to be really close with Cheryl before they split paths. So, even if she wasn’t going, it wouldn’t be awkward to ask for her help. Veronica was a kind person, she would help even if he was her enemy.

Letting out a nervous puff of air, Jughead pulled against the handles and swung open the door, relishing in the cool conditioned air that fanned his sweaty face. He had an excuse, though… it was hotter than the hot tub after he and Veronica kissed at the Lodge Lodge all those years ago. Wiping away the drops that fell down his forehead with the back of his hand, he was somewhat relieved to not see Veronica anywhere in the store. Just a few people here and there shopping for whatever it was that they needed.

Chewing on the inside of his lip as he walked fully into the store, his seafoam eyes glanced around, unsure where the suit and ties would be. Despite the relief, he was also disappointed because any other time to try and reconnect would be… odd and forced. And he missed her, she made his life interesting and exciting back then and he missed that feeling. No other woman has been able to make him feel the way she did, and he still hated himself for never telling her about his feelings before everyone split off onto their own paths.

Jewelry, shoes, dresses, breathtaking, gorgeous brown eyes that still had that innocent flutter—his breath caught in his throat, the face he could tell from miles away was growing closer. He noticed that she looked a little bit older; her hair was shorter and instead of wearing her signature pearls, she sported a purple gemstone around her neck. God, if he had a crush on her back then, imagine how enamored he was seeing her again looking essentially the exact same, but definitely different.

“Torombolo, is that you?” Veronica gasped, reaching up on her tip toes to playfully ruffle his hair. “No beanie, I see. And now you actually put effort into your hair. It suits you.”

He wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or not, but he dropped it with a tight smile. “Thanks, Veronica.” A laugh escaped his lips as he realized this moment mimicked the day she created his nickname, Torombolo, at his birthday party that he didn’t even want in the first place.

“Please tell me you’re here because of Cheryl and Toni’s masquerade ball. You need a suit, and some mask to make you mysterious and absolutely dashing, right?” The way she bit her lip brought back memories to when she would try to get whatever she wanted from Archie by doing that, and it always worked because Archie was a sucker for a beautiful girl with alluring eyes.

Jughead chuckled, nodding. “Yeah, I need exactly that, although i’m hurt that you don’t think i’m already mysterious and dashing.”

A smirk stretched one corner of her lips. Veronica swiftly turned on her heel and beckoned him to follow after her with her pointer finger. “I agree that you’re dashing just like you’ve always been, but, mysterious? Come on, Jughead, you’re practically an open book.”

Jughead opened his mouth to argue in his defense, but he had no idea how to respond. Veronica Lodge seemed to always know him more than he knew himself. Maybe she was right, he was an open book. Or, maybe he had a golden lock and Veronica was the only one with the key. That seemed more plausible. No one had ever gotten him like she did.

“Don’t pretend you’re all that, Ron, you’ve been the only person to ever understand me,” Jughead remarked, the nickname he always called her flowing from his mouth with ease, as if they had never parted and it was simply a part of his vocabulary. But he hadn’t called her that in ten years.

Like a lost puppy, Jughead followed Veronica until they ended on a small aisle of suits and ties of different colors and sizes for different occasions. Sporting a bright smile, she wiggled her eyebrows. “Let’s make a deal, Torombolo. I help you gather an outfit, you help me with mine. Sound good?”

“Mmhm…” he pretended to have to think about it, although he knew he was going to say yes. Why wouldn’t he? It was the perfect segway to building their friendship up again. “Sure. Do you know where we’ll find the masks, though?”

“Of course I do. Ever heard of Waldorf Designs? She has the best masks in store,” Veronica beamed proudly. “She’s my best friend, and maybe we’ll get a discount.”

Jughead nodded, letting out a breath that took his nerves of attaining an outfit for the masquerade ball away. “Okay, great. I’ve been thinking about it but I had no idea where I was going to get one.” With an airy sigh, he jutted his chin out to give notice to the wrack of penguin suits. “So, fashion master Veronica Lodge, what suit do you think would fit me?”

Veronica’s dark eyes scanned over his lanky body, teeth capturing the delicate skin of her inner cheek as she pondered. “Well, you’re still as tall as I remember, so these selections would hug you perfectly. Knowing you, these two would be your style. What do you think?”

“I think… fashion is definitely you’re forte because I find both of those suits really good. However, what truly makes or breaks my choices depends on the cost,” Jughead countered. “I may not be the homeless, loner little shithead you first met, but that doesn’t mean I want to pay a million dollars for a suit i’ll wear maybe a couple of times the entire year.”

Veronica rolled her eyes, shoving the two choices into his chest. “I’ll tell you when you put them on and model them for me, and decide which one feels the best. You can do that, right?”

“I take pictures of models, but I don’t model, Ron.” Jughead self consciously dug his hands into his front pockets, suddenly missing when he would have his Serpent jacket to conceal his insecurities and put up a shield. “Don’t you remember that one time when the four of us went to the mall and did that photobooth, like, four times so you, me, Archie, and Betty could have a strip of pictures? Even though all we had to do was put ‘four’ when the machine asks us how many copies we wanted?"

“Well, today you do. The dressing room is over there, and i’ll meet you over there after I talk to my employee,” she began to flitter away, not giving him any choice in the matter. But, before she left, she turned her head to say, “and of course I remember. You thought you looked awful in every photo but I thought you looked rather handsome.” And then she was gone, leaving him to blink about 20 times per second it felt like. He never knew that she found him handsome. The description, coming out of Veronica’s mouth, or her even thinking it, never occurred to him.

Swallowing the thick tension choking him, Jughead forced his feet to move off of the red carpet, which mimicked what celebrities walked on for premieres. He’s had his fair share of red carpet events, but he was in the crowd, taking picture after picture of celebrity after celebrity. Aimlessly dawdling towards where Veronica’s finger pointed him to, he opened up one of the stalls, locked it, and began to undress.

“Psst, Gigi, come here for a second!” Veronica sucked her lips inward to keep herself from spilling her excitement right there and then. “So, do you remember when you spent the night at my house and I told you about the boy I had a crush on in high school?”

“Cuphead? No, wait, that’s a video game…” Gigi snickered under her breath. “I do remember what you’re talking about, though. You always liked him but thought he would never like you back because of how different you two seemed. Except I pointed out how similar you two were and then you suddenly decided you wanted to go to sleep.”

“Yeah. Um, anyways, that guy I was talking to? That’s Jughead,” Veronica’s cheeks burned brightly, their open conversation making its way back into her head and she thought about what she had confessed about Jughead.

“Jughead! Yes, that’s his name.” Gigi laughed lightly. “I didn’t get a good look at him, but from what I could see, he was pretty cute.” She crossed her slender arms and pursed her lips. “Let me guess, you want me to cover your last few hours so you can hang out with him.”

“Please?” Veronica begged, lips mirroring Gigi’s and her hands clasped together underneath her chin. “I’ll make it up to you somehow. Uh, what if I get you tickets to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show with me, or something?”

Gigi mulled it over, unsure if that would be something worth working off the rest of Veronica’s hours for. “Mmhm… alright. But you have to help me get an Angel’s number. I’m so desperate for a girlfriend.”

“Girl, me too,” Veronica giggled. “Deal.”

With that worked out, Veronica mouthed a “thank you” to Gigi while dancing her way back towards the dressing rooms, placing herself on one of the waiting benches. She nervously picked her at her cuticles, able to hear Jughead getting dressed in the stall on the end. She wondered how handsome he would look in her own creations. She’d seen him a couple of times in tuxes, but they were never matching her sparkling, breathtaking dresses. Still, she knew he cleaned up well, and now that the beanie he wore as a shield to the outside world was put away and he actively tried to look good, Jughead looked better than ever.

She wasn’t sure how long she was sitting there, sifting through her high school memories while staring blankly at nothing, but clearly she had sunk into her mind because the next thing she knows, Jughead is gently shaking her shoulders with a worried gaze focused on her. “Veronica, are you alright?”

“Um… yeah. Sorry, I was just thinking back to all of the times I’ve seen you in a tux,” Veronica didn’t mean for it come out that way, but it was too late. “You always looked so good.” Her eyes traveled down the black suit she had given him, and she clapped at her magnificent eye. “And I see you still do. You look really good, Torombolo.”

“Thanks, Ron,” Jughead meekly licked his lips, stepping back now that she was back to reality. “I tried on the other one and I didn’t like the color, so I figured my dark aesthetic would save me.”

“Ahh, hasn’t it always? Anyways, go change back and we’ll find you some dress shoes and a tie to match,” Veronica said, glad to have something to do other than wonder what her life would have been like if she had just told Jughead the truth all those years ago. She turned to go to the ties, which was only a row away from the suits, until she felt Jughead’s cold, slim fingers wrap around her wrist. With a shocked gasp, she halted to a stop and turned to face him with a confused look on her face.

“Sorry, I couldn’t… I couldn’t gather my words before you started to go off. Um, what would you say if I asked to… um… match with you?” Jughead then shook his head, “sorry, that’s stupid. I’m sorry.” And before she could open her mouth to respond, even if she was shocked to hear it and wouldn’t have any idea what to say in the first place, Jughead swiftly turned around and hid in the dressing room.

Veronica blinked, unsure if she should go to the door and talk to him about it, or if she should drop it and go wait over by the ties. After debating it for a few moments, she pursed her lips, swallowed the tension that welled in her throat, and went to go sit down on the small seat to wait for Jughead.

This wait felt much, much longer. She wondered if that was just her mind making things up, or if he was stalling and taking longer to get dressed because of what he had asked. It would be nice if they matched, but this was a masquerade ball. The whole point was not knowing who anyone was behind the mask. Veronica had an idea, like she always did, but he’d have to trust her.

“Uh… I wanted to stall so I put the other one back where you got it from,” Jughead cleared his throat, forcing Veronica to blink herself out of her stupor. “So… shoes and ties? And what about our masks, again?”

“I’ll help you pick some shoes and a tie, and I have an idea about our masks,” Veronica playfully winked at him. “Masquerades are all about being anonymous, connecting because of the subtle, sultry movements… so I’m going to ask my friend to pick two masks for us so we won’t know who’s behind the mask.”

“I can literally figure out who you are just by your silhouette, Ron,” Jughead chuckled, rubbing his thumb over his lips. He did that sometimes when he was turned on. Or if he was being a cute little shit. Either way, it applied. “I’ll always be able to find you.”

Veronica tucked some of her hair behind her ear, biting down on her lower lip as her dark eyes burrowed into the floor. She couldn’t help but blush at that. He told her that he would always be able to find her, no matter the time that passes, or how much they change. He had memorized her aura, studied it meticulously that he could spot her even with an airport filled with a million people in the way.

Jughead turned his head to try and hide his blush, like she had come so accustomed to in high school, before he cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows towards the dresses. “Since you picked out my suit, I get to find you the perfect dress that you’ll be absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful in.”

Veronica pursed her lips in thought, mulling it over. “Okay. While you do that, i’ll send a call in to a friend for our masks, and we’ll see each other then.”

“Sounds like a plan, Lodge. Your plans have always worked,” Jughead smirked, laughing gently. “You know, Betty used to hate that. That her plans were always missing something, but when you made a plan it was perfect.”

“Well, that’s because I know how to be patient, and think every little thing through. Betty… didn’t. But, hopefully she’s not still pretending she’s a detective because otherwise she may know that we met up again before the masquerade ball and tell everyone.”

“And what’s so wrong about that?”

“I can’t go up and kiss you and surprise everybody.”

Jughead blinked a couple of times, stunned. “I… you… what?”

She turned her head around with a smirk, “go on, pick out my dress, Jones. I’ll have one of my associates take a picture of our costumes so she can get masks that work well with our outfits.”

“Years later, and you still find ways to make me speechless.”

* * *

Veronica smoothed down the slim red dress that hugged her curves. Partly, it was to get rid of the nervous sweat clamming up her hands, but to anybody else it would have seemed normal. Pulling on the doors to the venue Cheryl and Toni had picked out, she was met with a TV Show-esque entrance. She stood atop the stairs and blew cold air from her mouth while her eyes scanned the big crowd already dancing.

It looked… magical. Hidden faces, anonymous identities, dancing with strangers they connected with. She loved it. She loved people not knowing who she was, not sucking up to her. She loved being able to meet people without knowing anything—

“I told you i’d always be able to find you, Veronica.” Jughead’s voice came from the side, a man in a dark suit leaning up against the wall with a glass of champagne. The suit was recognizable, but the mask he wore emitted a small gasp from her lips. “You’re not going to fool me with your hair up. As beautiful as you’ve been with your hair down, I really loved it when you wore it in a ponytail, or a messy bun.”

Narrowing her gaze at him, she crossed her arms as her heels clicked a menacing echo towards him. “Since when did you see me in a messy bun?”

“You don’t remember?” Jughead smacked his lips distastefully. With a shrug, he figured she wouldn’t remember why the moment was so memorable for him. “When Isaac Lockey admitted he had been assaulted to your advice column, you spent four days with no sleep tracking his attacker down to make sure he went to jail. It was early in the morning, and I decided i’d let Betty sleep in that day so I brought you your coffee. Your hair was up in a messy bun, and I was surprised to find out that you had clothes other than dresses and skirts. You were in a dark blue t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, sending out calls to all of your people trying to track that man down.”

“I looked awful. Why do you remember that?” Veronica swallowed, unsure how he would have remembered such a long couple of exhausting days for her. She managed to catch the attacker, but it wasn’t _that_ memorable…

“I remember it because I saw you in this light I never got to see. Your desire to help people, your resistance… it drew me in, and it didn’t help that i’m a sucker for girls who still look stunning even with major bags under their eyes and messy buns,” Jughead took a drink of his champagne, and straightened himself. “Oh, God, i’m so sorry. You just got here. Do you want to go get something to drink, see the old gang?”

Veronica had only ever been told that her sleep deprived, mundane look was cute from the girls she dated. But, the guys in her life? They took off at the sight of her red eyes and the stains on her shirt. And hearing Jughead admit that in that moment where she felt most disgusting was a time where he saw her just as she was when she dressed in dresses and skirts and leggings made her emotional. Every other man would run away, but not Jughead Jones.

“Yeah… but I have to do something first.”

“Oh, okay—”

Veronica lifted up both of their masks and placed her soft, currant lips to his slightly chapped mouth, allowing herself to enjoy the feel of his tongue sliding across the opening of her lips begging to be let in. Allowing herself to revel in the fact that this wasn’t one of her dreams over the years of a long lost high school love, this was real. She was really kissing him again after all these years, and he still craved her just as much as she did him.

When they pulled away for air, Jughead swallowed and loosened the tie around his neck. “Wow… i’d always wondered how it would be to kiss you again but nothing my mind thought about would ever amount to that.”

With a smile, she patted his cheek as a nod to their kiss in the hot tub, and looped her arm through his. “Now let’s go get me some champagne. I’m going to need it for seeing everybody again.”

“I might need another to pull myself together after that kiss.”

“Oh, where’s the fun in that, Jones? Besides, you know me, there’s much more saved for later.”


End file.
